Deceiving Magic
by MJSLSBS
Summary: Harry has a secret. He discovered magic at the age of nine and now he has his Hogwarts letter. Will he be the perfect Gryffindor or let his Slytherin side come out to play?


**Title: **Deceiving Magic

**Author:**Immortal Aussie

**Email: **

**Fandom: **Harry Potter

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Harry has a secret. He discovered magic at the age of nine and now he has his Hogwarts letter. Will he be the perfect Gryffindor or let his Slytherin side come out to play?

**Warnings: **OOC, Clicheness,

**Challenge: **10 Prompts- Harry/Severus

**Prompt: **7- Magic

**Word Count: **4360

"Get the mail boy!" Vernon cried following Dudley's order to make Harry get it. _'Really,'_ Harry thought to himself, _'his family was so predictable.' _ Getting up from the kitchen table Harry made his way to the front door. Picking up the mail he flicked through them until he got to one in a yellow enveloped labelled in green ink with a strange crest on the back of it saying:

_Harry Potter_

_The Cupboard Under the Stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinnging, Surrey_

His interest piqued he slipped it into his jeans pocket for later perusal. There was no way he was going to allow his relatives to see it. They would just take it off him and this was one of the first things he had gotten that was for him alone.

After breakfast when he was back in his cupboard he pulled out the letter and opened it having a feeling he knew what it was. He had read his mother's diaries after all and they explained how her Hogwarts letter had arrived. It had been a few years previously when he had been cleaning out the attic when he found a pile of his mother's old books. He doubted that his relatives knew what was in there as they wouldn't have let him up there otherwise. In that pile he had found his mother's diaries and her old Hogwarts school books from her first three years there. At first he didn't believe her diaries but when he read the books the idea that magic was real seemed more and more likely especially given some of the strange things he had made happen including landing on the school roof when he went to jump behind the bin and turning his teacher's hair blue.

Pulling out the letter he saw it was indeed his Hogwarts letter and apart from his name it was exactly the same as the one his mother had stuck in her diary. Now all he had to do was somehow find the owl that would be hanging around and reply to it. He figured if his relatives had no idea that he had gotten the letter and replied that they could stop him going to Hogwarts. He knew where Diagon Alley was and how to catch something called the Night Bus to get there so he was alright in that regard. He'd just have to wait until his relatives were out for the day which would be soon given that his cousin's birthday was approaching quickly.

Five days later he had the chance. Dudley was out with Piers and his friends, his Aunt had gone to the shops and his Uncle was at work. Sneaking out of the house he made his way to a few blocks away and stuck out his arm. Soon enough a bus appeared in front of him.

"Welcome to the Night Bus. I'm Stan Shunpike and I'll be your conductor. Now where would you like to go young man and where are your parents?"

"I'd like to go to Diagon Alley please. My parents are at work so they told me to make my own way there, I'm also afraid I only have some muggle currency on me," Harry said holding out the ten or so pounds he had managed to steal from his Uncle over the past week. His mother's diaries said that the Night Bus would take Muggle currency if they had to as they could later convert it to the Wizarding Currency. He also figured it would be safer to say he had permission to travel to Diagon Alley by himself than say he had gone without his relatives knowledge and consent.

"Certainly young man. That will be three pounds. We can convert it to Wizarding currency later on. You're lucky, Diagon Alely is our next stop," Stan told him confirming his mother's information.

"Thank you sir," Harry replied before hoping on and finding a seat in the middle of the bus that was empty and had its surrounding seats also free.

After a jerky ride they suddenly stopped and Stan yelled, "DIAGON ALLEY!"

Hoping off the bus, glad to be off, Harry said, "Thank you sir."

Making his way into the Leaky Cauldron he saw someone who he assumed was Tom standing behind the bar looking exactly like he did all those years ago when his mother came for the first time.

Walking up to him he asked politely but in a quiet voice, "Excuse me sir? Can you show me how to get into Diagon Alley? I'm supposed to meet my parents there."

Peering down at Harry, Tom said, "Come with me. I'll show you how to get out there. I do hope you find your parents quickly, it isn't safe for someone as young as you to be out by themselves." Harry followed Tom out the back of the Pub and to the brick wall where Tom tapped the bricks in a certain order allowing them to move out of the way. "There you go," Tom said before heading back inside.

Looking at Diagon Alley in shock Harry barely remembered to call out, "Thank you!" to Tom as he left to go back into the Leaky Cauldron. Slowly Harry made his way down the Alley staring at the shops and people in amazement. Despite having read his mother's descriptions of the Alley nothing could compare to the real thing. It was truly amazing to view for the first time.

Stepping into Gringotts at the end of the Alley, Harry walked up to a free Goblin. "Excuse me, sir. I would like to access my vault by I'm afraid I don't have a key."

The Goblin stared at Harry in a suspicious manner before saying, "And where is your key?"

"I'm afraid I've never had it. My parents died when I was a baby and I've been living with muggle relatives since then," Harry explained to the Goblin who took on an outraged look at that news.

"You still should have had it. Please place a drop of blood on this parchment and we will issue you a new one, destroying all of the other keys in existence," the Goblin explained pulling out a knife and a piece of parchment from beneath the counter. Taking up the knife Harry pricked his finger and allowed the blood to drip onto the paper he then watched in amazement as his cut healed itself.

Glancing at the paper Harry saw a whole list of names appear with the top one being Potter. Next to it the Potter name had two numbers- 69 and 685.

The Goblin looked at the names in shock. "Well, well, Mr Potter, it seems you have quite a bit of money here. At the moment we can only issue you a key to vault 685 which is your trust vault while for while you are at Hogwarts. You will be able to withdraw 500 galleons per month. All your other keys were destroyed when these ones were formed," The Goblin said pointing to the keys on the counter. "We will look after the other ones until you come of age at seventeen and will also track down what became of the original keys. Now I believe the Potter manager would like to see you," The Goblin told him. "GRIPHOOK!" the teller called out causing another Goblin to scurry over.

*"Yes, Grolk?(1)"* Griphook asked the teller.

*"Can you sure Mr Potter to the Potter Account manager please?"*

*"Of course,"* Griphook said. Turning to Harry he added, "Come. We have no time to waste." Harry followed behind him quietly and quickly feeling it was the best not to provoke the Goblin.

Once they reached a room with the name Potter emblazed on it along with a few other ones Griphooked knocked on the door. *"Come in!"* a voice from behind the door called.

Opening the door Griphood beckoned Harry to follow him in. "Sir, Mr Potter to see you as directed."

"Thank you, Griphook," then turning to Harry he said, "Please Mr Potter have a seat. My name is Silvertongue and I've been your account manager since your Grandparent's time. I'm afraid I've got a few things to discuss with you."

"Yes sir," Harry said in shock. Everything was progressing so quickly, he was still having trouble wrapping his mind around everything that he had seen so far that day.

"Now, I believe your parents will was never read. That would probably be a good place to start," Silvertongue said pulling out a document from his desk. "To summaries your parents left you everything apart from 500,000 galleons to a Mr Sirius Black and a further 500,000 to a Mr Remus Lupin. 10,000 went to a Minerva McGongall as well as 5,000 to Albus Dumbledore," Silvertongue said naming people that Harry had never met but only read about. "They stated that if they died before you became of age you would be given to one of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Amelia Bones or Minerva McGonagall and you should never go to your Aunt and Uncle on your mother's side." At that Harry gasped. Someone had purposely gone against his parents wishes causing Silvertongue to look up. "Is there a problem with that?"

"I was placed with my Aunt and Uncle and I've never heard of any of those people before," Harry said not bothering to mention that he had read about them in his mother's diaries. That didn't seem to matter at the moment.

"That is indeed a problem them. I'm afraid that it might find us awhile to figure out who placed you there but we will do it and action will be taken against them," Silvertongue reassured the young man in front of him with a grave expression upon his face.

"Now continuing on," Silvertongue said putting away his parents will. "You have come into a large inheritance from both of your parents. It isn't a well known fact but your mother isn't actually muggleborn but is from a long line of Squibs who are descended from a bastard line of the Malfoy family." That shocked Harry. He had heard of the Malfoy's as a proud and old Pureblood family. "You won't be able to access the majority of the money until you come of age though. Now would you like to visit your vault and withdraw some money?"

"Yes please sir. I still need to get my school supplies."

"Alright then. GRIPHOOK!" Silvertongue yelled out causing the other Goblin to re-enter the office. "Please take Mr Potter down to his trust vault please."

"Certainly Sir," Griphook said before leading Harry down to the carts. The trip down the carts was faced past and very winding making Harry feel slightly sick but it was enjoyable. It reminded him of his cousins talk about a rollercoaster he had been on a few years back.

"Key," Griphook demaned once they reached his trust vault. Handing over his new key to the Goblin he waited for him to open the door of the vault. Once the door was open Harry was once again extremely shocked. Inside where piles and piles of money. He reckoned there was at least a few thousand galleons, if not more in there plus a mountain of sickles and knuts. Deciding it would be better to be safe than sorry, he took quite a pile of Galleons and a few slightly smaller piles of sicklers and knuts placing them into the bag Griphook had provided him with.

"Thank you, Griphook," Harry said before hoping back into the cart to make his way back up to the lobby of Gringotts. Once he was there he decided he might as well get his wand first before heading to the Apothocary. He decided to leave the bookstore until last knowing he would spend the most time there so he might as well get everything else done first. Madame Malkins would be quite busy at this time anyway.

Finding Ollivanders further down the alleyway, close to the entrance he stepped in and swore he was transported back in time. The shop looked like something you would find back in the 1800's. Looking around he then heard a voice say, "Welcome Mr Potter. I was wondering when I was going to be seeing you," and then a man with white hair which looked a lot like Einstein's hair stepped out from between the shelves of wands.

Harry blinked in shock and said, "Hello sir."

The man, who Harry presumed was Ollivander ignored him and continued speaking. "Now which is your wand hand? Your right good?" As Ollivander went down the ailse presumably looking for a wand a tape measure started to measure all sorts of measurements on Harry. Coming back Ollivander said, "That's enough," and the measuring tape fell to the ground. "Now try this one," he told Harry holding out a wand. Harry took it and it was immediately snatched back. "Definitely not this one. How about this one?"

Soon enough there was a massive pile of wands that had been rejected for one reason or another though Harry wasn't sure what those reasons were. Finally Ollivander came out with a wand that he seemed pretty sure that would be his.

When Harry held it this latest wand let out a bright light and threw up a wind that blew his hair back. "Curious, curious. That is indeed your wand." When Harry asked Ollivander what was curious he was told that his wand was the brother wand to the Dark Lord's. That shocked Harry but he did feel a strange sort of pleasure at that news. From what he had heard of the Dark Lord, he had the right ideal. Muggles couldn't be trusted and their children were too much of a risk.

"Thank you sir," Harry said before handing over his seven galleons for the wand. As he stepped out of the wand store he decided to head to the Apothocary. The Apothacary was a dark smelly place where Harry wanted to spend as little time as possible no matter how interesting Potions looked. It reminded him quite a bit of muggle cooking so hopefully he wouldn't be that bad at it.

After he bought all of his Potions supplies he made his way around the corner to leave the store when he banged into someone sending the two of them to the floor. "Watch were you are going," a voice snapped at him causing him to wince.

Standing up quickly he saw it was a man in his thirties with longish black hair and black eyes. Holding out his hand to help the man up he said, "I'm sorry sir. I'll pay better attention next time, I was just in a rush to get all my supplies before the Alley became to crowded. I've never liked crowds," Harry said in a rush not sure why he was telling the stranger so much.

"See that you do that," The man said before turning to walk into the Apothecary before stopping short further confusing Harry. Turning around the man grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close to him causing Harry to gasp and struggle. "Stay still you idiot," The man snapped. Harry did so already having figured that this man was not one to be crossed. The man lifted his arm up causing Harry to flinch in fright thinking he was going to be hit. Instead the man pushed up his fringe bearing his forehead causing the man to groan.

"Sir?" Harry asked confused. What was happening? Why was the man so interested in his scar? Sure the Dark Lord had given it to him but it was nothing special. "Why are you so interested in my scar? It's nothing special."

"It's Professor Snape, boy though you can continue with sir if you absolutely have to. Come with me. We need to go somewhere more private to have this conversation," Snape said inwardly bemoaning the fact that he had to run into this boy of all people and he didn't seem to realise that he was famous. Something was up with that and the Professor was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Harry followed behind the Professor surprised that it was his mother's old friend. It had to be. He looked older than the description from his mother and they had the same last name so it couldn't be someone else. Harry silently wondered why the Professor was so concerned over the fact that he was here and as a second thought whether he could get away asking the man about his mother. He had always wanted to know more about her but his Aunt and Uncle and refused to talk about his parents.

They entered the Leaky Cauldron and headed to a table down the back. "Sit," the professor demanded of him and Harry did so not wanting to anger him. "Now tell me. Do you know how you got that scar?"

"Going by what Ollivander told me just earlier today I got it when the Dark Lord attacked my family. I don't see why you are so interested in it though. It's just a scar."

Professor Snape sighed and hit his head upon the table in a fashion that Harry had a feeling he didn't do that often, especially in public. "You really don't know?" he asked Harry in shock? When Harry shook his head he closed his eyes before continuing. "The night the Dark Lord attacked your parents, he managed to kill them but when he turned his wand on you something happened and he was destroyed instead. That's how you got the scar and it made you famous throughout the Wizarding World. I'm surprised you weren't recognised and mobbed before I managed to see you," The Professor explained to him.

"Famous? But I'm just Harry!" he said in shock causing the Professor smile a tiny bit. It only lasted for a fraction of a second though.

"Yes, Harry, you're famous."

Harry closed his eyes and leant his head in his hands. "I don't want to be famous though. I hate attention, I just want to be myself."

"Harry, I know it won't be pleasant but you'll slowly grow use to it even if you don't like it. Now, tell me. What do you know about Hogwarts?"

Here was his chance to find out about his mother Harry realised. "A bit, sir though only what I read in my mother's diaries. My Aunt and Uncle refused to believe in magic or talk about my parents for that matter. I know about the four houses, Quidditch, though mother only briefly touched on it and the subjects that are held there. I found mother's books from her first three years at Hogwarts a few years back when I found her diary so I've read all of those quite a few times. I have to say Potions looks quite interesting," Harry told the Professor. "She didn't talk much about the actual school though, only at first, she mainly talked about her friends and what was happening in the Wizarding World," There. That was a perfect opener to find out more about his mother.

"Ah, then at the moment there isn't much else I can tell you. I myself am Head of Slytherin House and Potions Professor," which caused Harry to brighten up. "If you are truly interested in Potions I can probably recommend you a few books that aren't on the text list for first years. Considering you have read all the theory already- it hasn't changed that much since your mother attended school, and you take after her with her brewing skills I might be convinced to give you some private lessons. It would be a waste to let you fall behind."

"Thank you sir!" Harry gushed out pleased with that offer. He would definitely take it up.

"Now, from what you said about your relatives and what I knew of your Aunt while we were growing up I'm sure you don't want to return there am I correct?" At that Harry nodded. "Then I will pay for a room for you here. Tomorrow we can continue this conversation. I'm sure you would like to gather the rest of your school supplies before dark."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said truly ecstatic. He didn't have to return to his relatives once and for all and he had chance to find out more about his mother and Hogwarts. Life couldn't be better in his opinion.

****

The next morning found Harry once again sitting at the table with Severus Snape eating breakfast. He had been surprised to see the professor there so early. When Harry asked why the Professor told him he had decided to stay at the Pub so he didn't have to go back to Hogwarts and back here the next day though the floo trip wouldn't have been that long. Then the Professor had to explain what a floo was. Harry thought it sounded like a ride you'd find at a Muggle Theme Park but he didn't voice that opinion considering he wanted as little to do with Muggles as possible.

"Professor," Harry asked quietly.

"Yes?" The Professor replied reaching out a hand and lifting Harry's head until they were looking in each other's eyes.

Harry tried to look away but it didn't work so instead he took a deep breathe and said, "Canyoutellmeboutmymotherplease." He realised that it had come out too quickly for the other man to understand properly but he didn't care. Harry had always been taught not to ask questions and the habit of not asking them carried over into his conversations with other people unfortunately.

Smirking Severus replied, "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that."

"Can you tell me about my mother please," Harry said slower but it was still quite fast so Snape had to process it a bit first before replying.

Smiling softly the professor said, "Well let's see. Lily was one of the prettiest girls in our year. She had a natural beauty that not many achieve. Her hair was bright red and her eyes were the same colour and shape as yours. Many people were jealous of her, not only of her looks but she was an amazing witch, she was often described as the smartest witch of her generation. Lily excelled at Charms and did quite well in all of her other subjects. Professor Slughorn, the Potions professor at the time treated her as a favourite student," By now Harry was leaning forward listening intently. This was more like what he had read in his mother's diaries but a lot more in depth since she didn't really talk about what was happening to her. "Lily was a good friend of mine," this came as no shock to Harry but he did occasionally wonder why Professor Snape hadn't raised him instead of his relatives. "Not a lot of people liked that because we were a Gryffindor and a Slytherin but we didn't mind. Your mother always thought that the house rivalries were stupid. She hated people who dictated everything by what house you were in. That at first included your father. During our first few years he was an arrogant bully but he did change for the better. He became a proud man who wouldn't put up with any bellittingly. Your parents started dating in their fifth year when they made Head Boy and Head Girl respectively though your father wasn't a prefect while at Hogwarts your mother was." At that the Professor stopped talking, it was obviously hard for him to talk about his parents and Harry silently wondered but new better than to pry too much.

"Thank you, Professor. I have never known much about my family, only what my relatives told me and that isn't very reliable."

For the next couple of hours they chatted some more about Harry's parents, life at Hogwarts and Potions. At about lunch time Severus suggested that they head into the Alley and buy some more advanced Potions books as Harry clearly had a good grip on the theory. Severus promised that he would start to show Harry how to brew some simple potions that afternoon..

At Flourish and Blotts Harry bought numerous books as well as the ones the Professor recommended on other subjects as well as Potions. The Potion brewing session in the afternoon went quite well and it turned out that Harry had indeed inherited his mother's talent for the subject which pleased the two of them to no end. Severus was pleased as he had found someone he would actually enjoy teaching Potions too and wouldn't just be in there due to the fact that Potions was compulsorily for the first five years and Harry was pleased as he had something more to remind him of his mother especially from what he had gathered from some of his mother's early diary entries he looked quite a lot like his father.

The rest of the holidays passed quick enough in between Harry's Potions lessons, talks with Severus and reading the rest of his school books. The night before Harry was due to go to Hogwarts, Severus had made sure that he knew how to get onto the Platform and suggested he got there a bit early as to avoid the crowds and being recognised by fans. Harry had agreed whole heartedly with this suggestion. Severus had also suggested that he wouldn't be disappointed in what house Harry ended up in but personally thought he would make either Slytherin or Ravenclaw given his thirst for knowledge and being able to pull off the stunt he had successfully.

Harry was looking forward to arriving at Hogwarts. He couldn't wait to have official lessons in magic as well as his private ones with Professor Snape in Potions and anything else he wanted. Harry was also looking forward to meeting all the new students and the other Professors as well as witnessing the wondrous sites for the first time that his mother and Severus had both described.


End file.
